Construction starts on first of six fast-tracked solar and storage projects in Victoria

Construction has begun on the 102MW Glenrowan solar farm in northern Victoria, the first of six big solar and battery storage projects to be fast-tracked through the state Labor government’s second renewable energy auction.

Renewables developer Pacific Partnerships Energy said on Thursday it has achieved financial close and started building the solar farm, following the project’s 10-year VRET2 support agreement signed late last year.

Engineering, procurement, construction and operations and maintenance for the project is being carried out by UGL, a fellow subsidiary of Pacific Partnerships’ parent company, Cimic.

Pacific Partnerships managing director Simon Nicholls says the VRET2 deal – which contracts the projects to power state government operations with renewable energy – has been instrumental in securing the project’s connection agreements, regulatory approvals and construction contracts to achieve financial close.

“The construction phase also enables proactive opportunities for the local community and unlocks jobs and benefits for businesses and initiatives in the region,” Nicholls says.

Alongside Glenrowan, five more large-scale solar farms, four with big batteries included, are being ushered through under the Andrews government’s VRET2 program, with a total of 623MW of new generation capacity and 365MW/600MWh of new battery storage.

As RenewEconomy reported in October, the successful projects in the auction are spread across four of Victoria’s designated Renewable Energy Zones, from the Murray River REZ in the state’s north-west to the Gippsland REZ in the south-east.

In the Murray River REZ, the projects include the 95MW Derby solar farm with 85/100MWh battery by Sungrow Renewable Energy, and stage two of the Kiamal solar farm (150MW) being developed by Total Eren with a 150MW/300MWh battery.

Glenrowan is in the Central North REZ while ESCO Pacific’s Horsham solar farm (118MW) and battery (50MW/100MWh) is in the Western Victoria REZ. Another project, the 80MW plus battery Fulham solar farm, is in the Gippsland REZ.

Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio says these projects will generate a total of nearly 1,460 gigawatt-hours of renewables a year once completed, the equivalent of powering 300,000 homes.

The projects – part of the Andrews government’s renewable energy target of 95 per cent by 2035 – are also expected to support 920 direct jobs and attract $1.48 billion of investment.

“Victoria’s historic VRET2 auction is helping to supply all Victorian government operations with 100 per cent clean renewable electricity by 2025 – and it will attract billions of dollars of investment into regional Victoria,” D’Ambrosio said on Thursday.